


sidemen ot7 oneshots

by spacedvst



Category: The Ultimate Sidemen
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Simon, Demisexual Harry, Drama & Romance, Everyone Is Gay, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Harry Has Sensory Issues, Homosexual Tobi, Homosexual Vik, LGBTQ Character, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Multi, OT7, Pansexual Ethan, Polyamorous relationship, Polyamory, Romance, Sexuality Crisis, Sickfic, The Sidemen - Freeform, YouTube, bisexual josh, oneshots, pansexual JJ
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26397262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedvst/pseuds/spacedvst
Summary: “so what are we? a septouple?” vik asked, peering up from his clasped hands as the rest of the boys stared pensively. jj threw his arms out exasperatedly from where he was leaning against the dining table.“vik, please don't use big words, you know i don't know what they mean.”━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━sidemen ot7 oneshots ranging from fluff to angst. mostly harry centric :')also named “sidemen oneshots” on wattpad @spacedvst !
Relationships: OT7 - Relationship, Olajide "JJ" Olatunji/Simon Minter/Josh Bradley/Vik Barn/Tobi Brown/Ethan Payne/Harry Lewis
Comments: 11
Kudos: 68





	1. a little fall of rain (harry centric)

**Author's Note:**

> in which harry is having a bad day while the boys are out, and a thunderstorm only makes it worse.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS: descriptions of a panic attack, sensory overloads, self-deprecation.

in short, lewis was not having a great day.

he knew as soon as he woke up that it would be a horrid day. as light shot through the blinds and bore laser-hot pain in his eyes, harry almost wanted to roll back over and return to sleep. however, he chided himself for being so lazy. it would only be a bad day if he let it – vik or josh would surely tell him something like that.

well, they would have, if they were actually home. honestly, harry didn't mind the odd bit of peace and quiet in the sidemen house. but, when you felt like shit and ached for nothing more than a cuddle, waking up alone fucking _sucked_. additionally, none of the boys had even bothered to tell harry where they all went (save for tobi, who did text him, the angel). so, the feeling of being left behind also rotted in harry's heart, which sucked even more.

the guernsey boy sighed, bottom lip jutting out. he supposed he would have to make do with being alone for the day – but that's nothing he couldn't handle, right? the day wouldn't turn out so bad!

* * *

turns out that harry changed his mind fairly quickly about that one. it was the minor setbacks that got to him, really. little things that were missing from his daily life seemed to snowball until he became frustrated at the whole world. _all_ harry had wanted was one cup of tea. he had boiled the kettle and poured the milk into his mug, only to realise that – _surprise!_ – there weren't any teabags left. in fairness, living with six other men did mean their stock ran low very quickly, but teabags? harry wanted to strangle whichever sideman used the last bloody one.

after whining to himself a little, wallowing in self-pity, harry watched his milk flow down the drain, just like his hope for the day.

* * *

thirdly, because _of course_ there was fucking more, harry had decided to film a video for the first time in a while. he felt as though he owed it to his subscribers, having not uploaded anything to his main channel in a good few months. sometimes he thought it was criminal to get away with that, but it only made him more thankful that his viewers had the patience to stick around. sometimes, the boys' jokes hit a little too close to home about that sort of thing: was he really riding on the sidemen's backs? really earning essentially free money? in all honesty, what did harry actually contribute other than the false stereotypes of being late and doing drugs?

shaking away that intrusive thinking, harry ruffled his hair in thought. he had decided to take advantage of the empty house, assuming that nobody would be home any time soon. he was known for getting up to a bit of meddling, so the youngest thought it would be quite classic of him to pull a prank on the rest of the sidemen. they wouldn't be too mad about harry swapping all of their clothes, right?

the scheme was going well until his camera decided to flip out on him. everything seemed to move in slow-motion as it tipped over the edge of jj's chest of drawers, crashing onto the wooden floorboards. harry flinched at the distinct crack and jumped back from the little glass shards projected towards his bare feet. well, there went £600 worth of equipment, as did his entire video. the sim card was fucked, and now he was left with no video and a group of boys who would come home angry at harry, who didn't even have an excuse for his mischief anymore. the walk of shame to fetch the broom was a long one. what a fucking day.

* * *

harry gave up after that, sulking and retreating to the couch with a thick blanket in-tow. all curtains were drawn, leaving the livingroom covered in a welcoming navy hue. he heaved his hood over his head and flopped down, wanting nothing more than the floor to open up and swallow him whole. the world had a typical tendency to make him feel like such a burden. when would harry lewis catch a break?

he decided to scroll through twitter to pass the time, sending out an apology to his fans and announcing that the video he had been buzzing about online wouldn't actually be going up at all. harry couldn't possibly count how many times he chanted _i'm sorrys_ in his head that evening. he literally had to brace his muscles in anticipation for the amount of disappointed replies his tweet would receive, but most people were actually understanding. still, the guilt circled his head like a vulture, ready to strike.

the worst thing was that nobody was home to solve his issues. he didn't even know where any of the boys were, besides jj and tobi. a selfish, protective mass in harry's brain ached for him to just text the groupchat and beg for everyone to come back, but who was harry to waste everyone else's time? they were all clearly very busy – it was 8pm and nobody had even returned home for the dinner harry couldn't be bothered making.

(if vik were there, he would be telling harry to take better care of himself. but vik wasn't there, so he hadn't eaten a thing all day. that was what he deserved, anyway.)

he began to wonder where the rest of the boys were, actually. ethan had likely gone to the gym in the early afternoon as normal, but where had he gone after that? he was sure that josh had mentioned a meeting the night before, something to do with branding? of course josh would be the one to go, harry mused, he had always been a bit of businessman at heart. so that left vik and simon. maybe those two just didn't want to tolerate harry for the day. that was understandable, he thought. he felt something pull at his heart then. was this the boys trying to distance themselves from him?

as if the day couldn't get any worse (seriously, was god trying to punish him or something?) that was when it began pouring down outside. now, harry had never been too fond of the rain. he hated being trapped inside – harry lewis was a wild boy who needed adventure and a busy schedule to keep himself focused. and, although his day had been unproductive as all hell, at least the weather was keeping his spirits up until then. but, of course, what was a shitty day without a bit of cliché rainfall?

harry had many funny fears: buttons, social interaction, and particularly thunder. he had always been a bit sensitive to sound – that was something the other boys were so particular about and protective of. they always noticed what stressed the youngest sideman out, always tried their best to prevent him from hurting. but, now, the boys weren't with him. harry lewis was alone. trapped inside. in a dark house. with booming thunder outside. he felt like fucking crying as soon as the noise entered his ears, all reflexes commanding him to _hide, hide, hide_. he felt as though the whole room shook with the clouds' tremendous roars. the wind whistled at the windows, prying to peek through the curtains and whisk harry away. he could only ease the blanket closer to his body and turn his airpods up louder to drown out the noise.

 _you're in your twenties for christ's sake_ , his conscience scolded, _you can handle a bit of weather_.

the boy's body told a polar opposite story after the second roll of thunder. lightning rocketed through his veins as it forked in the sky and he leapt about a foot in the air at the feeling. clumsily his phone slipped through his fingertips and harry's blood ran cold when the room was swallowed in complete darkness for a moment. scrambling for the device, his only clutch to safety, he gulped down a scream. only harry would get this scared over some stupid thunder. he had never felt so alive and dead at the same time.

so now it was 8.30pm. it was pitch black, save the light coming from his phone. he was running on a glass of water and six hours of sleep. there was a monstrous thunderstorm outside. and none of the sidemen were home. _shit_. harry didn't want to, he really didn't fucking want to, but his heart simply pleaded for his fingers to scatter across his keyboard and text the sidemen. he needed them. another roll of thunder brought harry to the brink of tears and he yanked the fluffy quilt over his head to shield himself. coughing out a sob, he shakily opened whatsapp and typed as best as he could, glossy eyes barely making out the letters. coughing out a sob, he shakily opened whatsapp and typed as best as he could, glossy eyes barely making out the letters.

god, harry really hoped they weren't busy.

* * *

jj had been having a pretty good evening in the grand scheme of things. sure, the day was jam-packed with composing, writing, testing out a few bars here and there, but he was having a blast the whole time. and he could tell that tobi was thrilled, too. it was his first time being in the booth since before christmas, and the elder boy was buzzing with excitement. even through his cool and collected demeanour, jj could quite clearly see the way tobi's eyes glistened and his smile pulled that little bit wider than usual.

tobi was in the middle of laying down a demo for a verse when harry texted the groupchat. jj hadn't really been on his phone all day, to be honest – only to type a few lines in his notes. but something drew him in to check that notification. maybe it was some sort of instinct, but something didn't sit right in his bones.

from **little boy** : pjease com hpme

"ah, shit," he murmured to himself. instantly typing a reply, his foot anxiously tapped on the textured floor. could he wait for tobi to be done?

...no, he definitely couldn't.

whatever this was, it was much more important than what they were doing. jj would put down anything and everything for harry, for any of his boys. from the opposite side of the glass, jj signalled with his hand for his boyfriend to wrap things up, and the hat-adorned man retreated from the booth with a furrowed brow.

"what's wrong? i thought i was on point in there, man."

at this, sam nodded before pausing the track and frowning. the bearded man peered over his shoulder at the couple, but jj didn't have time to explain. he only extended his arm and showed tobi his phone – the elder narrowed his eyes and a pair of mocha eyes scanned over the words before filling with what jj could only describe as dread. "harry needs us home," he prompted to sam as tobi was already fetching his jacket and keys. after sending their apologies (to which sam only brushed them off, assuring them it was fine) the pair took off towards the sidemen house. tobi shuddered on his way to the car, looking towards the charcoal sky and capturing a spiderweb of lightning fall to the earth. he opted to drive a bit faster than usual on his way to the sidemen house.

* * *

josh was, frankly, exhausted. he hadn't been asked that many questions in such little time since his gcse's, and those weren't exactly yesterday.

of course, he didn't hate meetings – quite the contrary, actually. he really enjoyed the formality of sitting at the head of a table and feeling important: discussing numbers, having a _'real job'_ for a little while. however, talking for hours upon hours on end about branding and budgeting and video ideas was completely and utterly draining. he had promised to pick simon up from the astroturf not too far from their house, which had been his, chris' and the cals' home for the whole afternoon. he was sure that simon would whine at him for leaving him to wait in the pouring rain, but, right now, josh just felt like sleeping.

after a new text message popped up at the top of his screen, barging in on his twitter timeline, he was wide awake again.

from **haz** : pjease com hpme

josh's fingers danced over his keyboard in a race to send a reply in record time, but he mulled over it for a moment. he didn't want to ask harry too many questions then and there, it would surely overwhelm the boy. but, at the same time, he was dying to know exactly what had caused his darling boy to hurt this much. it wasn't particularly rare for harry to text one of them to come and get him, or to call him because he was scared, but with it being the dead of night and harry being home alone, anything could have been happening to him. josh decided to ignore the evil thoughts circling around his mind that detailed something horrific happening to harry. he decided to go with something a little more on the comforting side. then, his heart doubled in size at the sight of everyone else's responses.

* * *

harry could have screamed with relief after peeking over his drawn hood and seeing all of his boyfriends' replies, but that immense joy was soon ripped from him as the storm raged on. he yelped and hugged his knees to his chest, rocking himself back and forth as much as the corner of the couch would allow. oh, how he longed for his mother to be rocking him and telling him everything would be alright. harry was supposed to be a grown-up. he was supposed to know how to handle himself. why couldn't he do anything right? now, nobody could save him, because he was dreadfully alone.

everything gradually became far too much. the darkness around him began to move; colourful shapes distorting and arching before his eyes; his fingertips fell numb and the blanket itched against his shoulders uncomfortably. he had experienced this countless times before: the pent up frustration and panic inside his body being warped by the world around him. alongside sound, another thing harry always had trouble dealing with was texture. he yearned to writhe away from everything around him and cower in the corner of the room instead, but he was far too horrified to move even an inch. everything buzzed in his ears, bouncing from every wall and swirling around him like the eye of a hurricane. there was screeching and booming and too loud and fuck, harry couldn't _breathe_ , he couldn't _see, he couldn't –_

"harry, love?"

there it was: the spotlight in the dark, the lighthouse at a ferocious shore, the major chord in a minor symphony. simon's voice plucked harry from deep within his mind and set him back on the couch. he tried to let out a strangled cry to alert anybody, but nothing came of it. he hesitated for a moment and began to wonder how stupid he looked, so childlike as he hid under a blanket from something that couldn't even touch him. this was _embarrassing_ , he realised. six boys coming home just to comfort him during a bit of thunder and lightning.

of course josh and simon were the first ones home, harry thought. whenever it came to one of the boys being in trouble, josh was there in a flash. like a guardian angel, tobi liked to say.

not even ten seconds after josh and a semi-sodden simon had arrived, ethan came tumbling through the door with vik in-tow and a multitude of shopping bags in hand; then came in tobi and jj, all calling for their youngest.

ethan figured it would be useful to turn the lights on and, since his boyfriends were being dimwits and stumbling in the dark, he dropped all of the shopping bags where he blindly assumed was the kitchen before turning them on. the room was covered in a warm hue, and ethan sighed fondly after discovering a little blanket cocoon tucked into the corner of the couch.

"lads," he called oh so gently so as to not frighten harry.

vik was the first respondent, rushing into the livingroom worriedly, then skidding to a halt with a sympathetic smile. another little whimper came from beneath the blanket as a rumble resonated throughout the house. for just how long had the boy been like this before texting them all?

"gonna go get the headphones," vik commented gently before taking off in pursuit of harry's ear defenders.

they were kept in josh's office (josh was smart enough to know that if harry kept them himself, they'd be lost within a week). harry wore his ear defenders on particularly bad occasions, like when there were fireworks or thunder; or when he really needed to focus on his work; or sometimes when he got a little too overwhelmed by all the noises of the ever busy world. sensory overloads couldn't be cured, of course, but the sidemen found ways for them to be tolerated.

advancing towards the little heap in front of him, ethan couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. of course, it pained him that harry was hurting, but he looked too cute to compare in that moment. "bog, sweetheart, it's ethan," he cooed as the rest of the boys entered the room. he toyed with the corner of the blanket to reveal tufts of golden hair poking out from underneath a colourful hood. it went in every direction and crimped in some places – simon could tell even from afar that harry had been clutching it for comfort. like with most situations, harry's first instinct was to get away. as his shield was lifted from him and ethan's familiar frecked hand grazed along his elbow, harry jolted in the opposite direction with eyes screwed shut. he pulled at a strand of his hair once more, pursing his lips and contorting his features. ethan looked down at his hand pensively, practically telling it off for doing anything to remotely harm his boy.

"oh, angel," tobi murmured under his breath. this panic attack was bad, he would need a lot of grounding.

over the years, the boys had learned that each sideman handled stress differently. jj liked to vent everything out whilst wrapped in a huddle with his favourite boys; simon tended to scream for a while, release all of his anger, before eventually crumbling into someone's arms. vik preferred to actually solve the problem, and he wouldn't rest until things were fixed. josh despised being comforted, feeling as though he should always be the protector, but secretly he just craved a cuddle from time to time. tobi typically avoided the problem and held everything in until it was over. ethan broke down quite easily, aching for some affection.

and harry was so fragile when he was afraid, so easy to break. the boys needed to piece him back together with the finest meticulousness. simon took the lead then, cautiously crawling onto the couch at harry's legs and ghosting a finger over the blanket covering them. "it's us, harry. we're all here now," he tried, shuffling harry's cadaverous limbs to the side and squeezing beside the boy so he could hold him. "c'mere, love," simon beckoned, already drawing the boy into his lithe arms and cuddling him from behind. as another clap of thunder echoed around the room, it took little under a millisecond for harry to turn around and dive into the croon of simon's neck.

if jj could fight the weather, he would have gone up to mother nature and socked her himself.

tobi was next to join the embrace, settling beside simon and slowly lifting the boy's ankles. it took a while of gentle persuasion for harry to stop tensing beneath tobi's hands, but they got there in the end. he rested the boy's legs over his own thighs and began to trace meaningless shapes into his calves.

then came ethan, moving to the back of harry and (somehow, with a bit of manoeuvring) managing to squeeze between him and the corner of the couch. he wrapped an arm around the guernsey boy's waist and pressed his lips to harry's temple. "you're alright, bog. a little fall of rain can't hurt you now." ethan swore he had heard something like that in a movie somewhere – or was it a book?

a crackling noise coursed throughout the house and, suddenly, the lights were out again. harry cried out with such a broken tone that the rest of the sidemen could have sworn they heard their hearts shatter. everyone seemed to move around harry all at once after the blackout and everything became too much again. how was harry going to get out? he needed to get out, _he needed out, he needed –_

simon cursed under his breath as the boy tucked in his lap began to concave and hyperventilate once more, returning to clasping his hands over his ears and trembling like an autumn leaf. " _shhhh_ , shh, shh, lovey. it's alright, you're alright. there's just a blackout, my love, nothing's gonna hurt you." simon caressed the boy's cheekbone with the back of his cool hand, the other holding onto the back of harry's head protectively. "nothing's gonna hurt you when we're here."

"vik?!" harry heard jj call from the hallway, which only worried him further. was vik okay? was he alone in the dark? was he hurt? his heart rate seemed to slow a little when he heart a distant, "coming!" but vik still wasn't in the flesh. what if something were to happen? harry would never forgive himself.

the second youngest sideman bolted downstairs with all of the bravery he could muster, landing against jj's chest at the bottom of the stairs. of course, everyone was a little scared of the dark, but vik had to stay strong for harry. their boy was in need right now. josh had retrieved a few fake candles from the kitchen and turned everyone's phone torches on, which illuminated the room in a beautifully soft tangerine glow. if the situation at hand weren't so dire, it would actually be a wonderful moment to bask in the gentle lighting and huddle together. that filled harry's soul with such guilt. he was ruining everyone's night – they were probably all fed up with his drama.

vik leaned with such poise over all of the bodies strewn across the couch, and ethan guided harry's head forwards so that the headphones could be placed over his ears, but first they had to remove the golden boy's hands from his ears. "just one second, harry, then it'll all go away." he knew that vik never told a lie, so he slowly eased his hands away and peeked his eyes open.

finally before him was what harry had wished for the whole day: all of his boys back at home, cuddling and comforting one another. a warm feeling flooded his stomach and butterflies began to flutter. did they all really drop what they were doing just to help him get through some stupid thunderstorm? harry lewis decided then that he had the sweetest boyfriends in the world. vik swiftly slipped the headphones over harry's head and pecked his hairline, before clambering over the pile of boys and nestling into tobi's side.

jj then entered the equation, crouching down before the boys and cupping harry's cheeks with his dark palms. jj olatunji looked astonishing in this lighting, harry noted. all of his features glowed like the sun, gentle smile radiated nothing but affection. although harry couldn't hear too well, he knew exactly how one familiar phrase looked on jj's lips:

_you're okay. i love you._

the musician plodded onto the couch beside ethan, head resting on the ginger's shoulder and large hand tickling harry's arm in figures of eight. jj closed his eyes slowly, cheeks beginning to ache with how brightly he had smiled in the past few minutes. he was finally at peace, knowing that everyone was alright.

josh lingered at the foot of the couch for a moment, taking in the scene before his eyes. his six boys all lined up, limbs playing jenga with each other and heads nestling comfortably. harry had finally settled for the most part, easing his muscles and curling into simon's chest. one of his hands fell atop ethan's on his waist and the other fiddled with a drawstring on tobi's hoodie. with a bright green set of ear defenders on his head and a large baby blue sweater adorning his frail body, the boy looked nothing less than winsome.

all of them looked as such, actually. they seemed to be nodding off: jj lay limp against ethan's side; ethan slumped into harry's back and his head rolled back onto a cushion; simon rested atop harry's fluffy locks; tobi had fallen forward and dangled over harry's legs; vik cuddled into a cushion with his arm linked around tobi's. and they hadn't even taken their shoes off yet, josh chuckled. the eldest sideman picked the blanket up from the floor and draped it over each of his boys. he made sure to kiss each one of them on the forehead before returning to harry, who had definitely fallen asleep as he began to fall down simon's lap. he was sure the youngest would be all soft and needy in the morning, but, luckily, josh absolutely loved to take care of each of his darlings. he pressed an extra-long kiss to the crown of harry's head that night before finding himself a spot on the couch beside jj. wrapping an arm around his boyfriend's waist and pulling the blanket over his own shoulders, josh took one final look around the dimly lit livingroom for the night.

how lucky he was, he fonded, before closing his eyes.

* * *

the next morning, harry lewis woke in a daze. this always seemed to happen after panic attacks or sensory issues, he had noticed. vik had explained it as his brain not being in the right mode, or... _something_. frankly, harry couldn't focus on anything in that moment, not even his own thoughts.

after removing the headphones from his ears and setting them soundlessly on the coffee table, the world returned to normality. it seemed as though most of the boys had gotten up by now, only leaving himself, simon and tobi on the couch. the first voice he heard was ethan's, his call sounding all the way from upstairs.

"vik, why the _fuck_ are all your clothes in my wardrobe?"


	2. attention (jj centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which jj just wants some attention, but the rest of the boys seem to be busy.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS: none i don't think, just fluff !!

it's no secret that jj olatunji liked his sleep.

the boys often joked that he was asleep in videos more than he was awake, but the man just loved to sleep! he naturally tired easily and always looked forward to the end of his day, when he could lay down with his six boys and cuddle them through the night. so, his body decided that he needed a nap in the middle of the day.

it hadn't been an energy-consuming day in the slightest, but jj's sleeping pattern was not exactly. . . _healthy_ , per se. he could get to sleep at 4am; wake up at midday; go back to bed at 9pm the next evening and then wake up at 7am. he was a challenge, to say the least. jj didn't really like to sleep alone anymore, to be honest. he had been officially dating the boys (the rest before was a little messy) for half a year now – they all slept in the same bed whenever they could. it was kind of weird to sleep by himself at this stage, he discovered.

so, jj would find somebody to nap with him.

* * *

the first person jj went to was harry lewis. he batted his puppy dog eyes and clasped his hands together, looming at the youngest's bedroom door like a child asking his mother for money. he poked his head through the door with his bottom lip jutting out, perfecting his begging act.

"harr– _yyy?_ can you come cuddle me?"

only, instead of finding harry lounging in his desk chair or doing something stupid on the floor as per usual, jj found the kid laying in the pitch black dark underneath a heap of blankets. the air was stuffy and jide had to breathe in to get used to the heat. after adjusting, jj made out another figure perched on the end of the bed, pressing a cloth to harry's head as he sniffled.

"oh. hi, jj," josh greeted with a warm smile.

"j?" harry murmured in a slur before being gently hushed and coddled. one in the plethora of blankets was pulled further up his chin. "sorry, jide. i don't think this boy can even stand, let alone come for a cuddle," the eldest explained with a sigh as he turned harry's bedside lamp on. jj cringed a little at the sight: a mountain of pill packets accumulated on the desk, harry's cheeks and nose were dusted with a rosy tint, his hair went every which way.

"i wanna cuddle!" harry protested weakly whilst making grabby-hands towards the musician. "well, i _did_ warn you not to film with the cals in the pouring rain, so you've brought this on yourself," josh counteracted before shooting jj a sympathetic smile. "sorry, babe. i'm sure one of the other boys will give you a cuddle, no?"

with that, he simply nodded and closed harry's bedroom door behind him with a yawn.

* * *

the next target would be ethan, jide determined. ethan was never much for a cuddle, so jj already had a fixed answer in his mind, but it wouldn't hurt to try, right?

he actually found the redhead in the garden with a skipping rope – he fluently bounced at speeds jj couldn't even process in his sleepy state. "eth– _aaa_ –n, you busy?" he called playfully, a mischievous smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"a little, mate, i've half an hour to go still. why, what's up?" ethan breathed out effortlessly, not even puffing in the slightest. he continued to skip whilst talking. save the slight sweat gathering atop his brow, you wouldn't know ethan was tiring at all.

". . . can you come give me a cuddle?" and ethan cackled, face flushing, but not from working out. "maybe later, babe? come back to me once i'm done and of course i will," the shorter explained with a heartfelt sigh as jj retreated back indoors with a pout. that left three. why wouldn't somebody just give him a fucking cuddle?! 

* * *

thirdly, jj paid tobi and vik a visit. they would have just finished filming a video together, from what jj remembered. the fatigue was beginning to carve into him now, boring into the back of his head and leaving a dull feeling behind his eyes.

he didn't exactly expect to find vik and tobi making out on the former's gaming chair, but who was he to judge? hell, he would have joined it if it wasn't for his fatigue.

he entered vik's room and instantly exited again, murmuring, "nope," whilst pivoting out the door. they could be left to their own devices. the two smallest sidemen hadn't even registered that jj entered the room before he was out again. the only sideman left was simon minter. _please, please, please,_ his conscience begged, _say simon isn't busy_.

* * *

jj _actually_ knocked this time, not wanting to be scarred from the scene he had previously walked in on (not that it wasn't hot, just surprising).

"c'me in!" simon sang, tone cheery. finally, there was hope!

the door creaked and jj entered with a playful pout, arms spreading open in need of a cuddle. the lanky boy was lounging on his bed whilst scrolling through his instagram feed. looking up to see his boyfriend's distraught expression, simon lunged from the bed and swung his arms around the shorter. "ohh dear, what's happened?" he murmured into jj's bandana, swaying the pair back and forth whilst suppressing a chuckle. he truly resembled a child: arms thrown out in a huff, cheeks puffing, brows furrowed. how jj could be so dramatic, he wasn't sure.

"nobody wants to cuddle meee!" jj whined into simon's collarbone. he balled his hands into fists and even went so far as to add a sad sniffle. jj olatunji always had a way of getting what he wanted, no matter how much it took. simon tutted, deciding to play along with jj's silly game. "well, that just won't do, will it?" he exclaimed before pecking jj's cheek. the man gave a small and sly, "nooo," in response, smirking against simon's salmon shirt and hoping he wouldn't feel it (which he did).

"right then, let's have a cuddle and make our dumb boyfriends jealous," simon demanded with a mischievous grin before taking jj's hand and leading him downstairs.

they eased onto the couch, where jj had already scattered blankets and pillows galore. two out of the seven sidemen nestled close to each other and jj sighed as simon's cool palms let steam out of his ablaze ones. soon enough, he slipped into a comfortable sleep, a cheeky and heartwarmed feeling coursing through his veins.

* * *

he woke up not even an hour later to a mass on his chest, keeping him between the couch and the waking world. he wheezed uncomfortably and attempted to shift, before giving up and yanking the blanket over his head.

"get the _fuck_ off me, prick," he moaned.

"thought you wanted a cuddle?" he heard a soft voice taunt. jj could see tobi's big pout even with his eyes closed.

"not anymore – seems like i'm not your top priority," jj seethed back with a proud smirk before nudging the smaller boy off of his chest. a dark chuckle rumbled in his ribcage, but he made no noise as tobi cried out, "motherfu–"

jj finally opened his eyes to see what he had longed for since the beginning: all of his boys on the couch, huddled together. vik had his legs draped over jj's own and was delving into a book on philosophy (or something else nerdy that jj didn't have the time or patience for). simon was still comfortably tucked behind jj, but now he sat upright with his knees to his chest as he drew pretty patterns into his shirt. ethan sat in the very centre – the attention hog – both arms at the back of the couch as he grinned widely and watched tobi clutch his tailbone on the plush carpet below. josh was sat next to ethan, but a clear space was meant for tobi between them; the eldest sideman rested his head on harry's shoulder and peered at the boy's phone, which he was continuously struggling to hide. harry himself was sat in the corner in order to stay away from the rest of the boys, just in case he was properly sick. josh had called on ethan after his workout and together the pair had carried harry downstairs. the youngest had tried to get up himself, but had gotten so dizzy that he almost blacked out from the sudden change in position.

jj shone a toothy smile at the rest of the sidemen, choosing to blatantly ignore how tobi snatched up a cushion and tossed it at his head.

"morning, sunshine!" simon chirped from behind, head cocking to the side to get a good look at the musician as he grinned right back. "you didn't sleep very long," he commented. he almost wanted jj to get back to sleep, the poor thing. his mouth framed the invitation.

"still snored like a rhino, though," vik remarked impassively as he turned a page in his book. a laugh chorused and angels seemed to sing. jj seethed out a high giggle when ethan took one look at what vik was reading before his eyes widened and he pulled a face. it was as though the words were upside-down to the ginger boy. "well, it's a wonder _you_ heard him over all your tongue-fucking with tobi," harry choked out with such venomous snark, glaring at the culprits for a few moments before the group burst into laughter once more.

"so, jide, now that you've got all the attention in the world," josh began, "what do you wanna do?" he lifted his head from harry's shoulder and rested his elbows on his knees. twelve eyes looked pointedly at jj. he smirked slowly, eyeing each and every one of the boys up and down at a snail's pace before performing the most obvious wink they had ever witnessed.

"nice try, horny shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for not being as consistent as i'd like to be!! i've got heaps of homework and tests of school plus my creativity only seems to emerge at 1am onwards (,; 
> 
> p.s. i'm planning a sidemen x among us fanfic and i'll be posting it to wattpad, is that something you'd like to see on here too? much love <3


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